Manuel Henry Enos

Manuel, 90, passed away in Roseburg, Oregon on August 6, 2008. Manuel was born in Livermore, CA on September 16,1917 to Mary and Manuel Enos. Manuel's parents died during The Great Influenza when Manuel was only 13 months old. Manuel's grandparents, Lucy and Joe Cardoza, raised him along with their 10 children.

Manuel always wanted to be a baseball pitcher, but instead dabbled in prize fighting, and at the age of 14 left home to join Jim Eskew's Wild West Show in Waverly, NY. In 1939 Manuel joined the Cowboy's Turtle Association, the forerunner of the PRCA. Manuel was proud of the fact that he placed in every major rodeo in the country and that he usually entered four events. He also was proud of the fact he eventually rode every horse which succeeded in bucking him off. Even the famous bucking horse War Paint failed to buck him off in one of their three meetings on the circuit.

Manuel was a stuntman and extra in many western movies, including "Red River", "One Way West", "Western Union" and "Bronco Buster." He dined with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey and worked with Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson. He met Clark Gable, Jim Thorpe, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Manuel had no musical training, but he was blessed with a beautiful singing voice. He sang at night clubs with Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers and sang at Madison Square Garden after a cowboy died during the rodeo. Manuel retired from Professional Rodeo in the early 60's and went to work for the Roseburg Lumber Co. hauling wood chips from Dillard, Oregon to Coos Bay twice a day until he retired.

Manuel's survivors include his son Michel and daughter-in-law Sara of Alexandria, Virginia; Stepdaughter Lainey Prather, Phoenix, AZ; Stepson Russ Pinckney, Bonanza, OR; Aunt Ida Taylor, Livermore, CA; companion, Joyce Abdill of Roseburg, OR; and numerous cousins in California. Manuel was previously married to Carol Enos.